David Ferrer beats Almagro to win Copa Claro

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) David Ferrer won the Copa Claro on Sunday, rallying past defending champion Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Spanish final.

The fifth-ranked Ferrer earned his 13th ATP tour title. He also won in January in Auckland, New Zealand.

Ferrer opened the second set with a break and held serve to send the match to a third set.

The second-seeded Almagro had a couple of chances to break in the second game of the final set, but Ferrer held and broke in the next game and again at 3-1.

Coming into the final, Ferrer hadn't dropped a set all week. But he couldn't recover after losing serve at 2-1 in the opening set at Lawn Tennis Club.

Ferrer, who was the runner-up in Argentina in 2010, broke to open the second set and held serve to send the final to a third set.

The second-seeded Almagro had a chance to break in the second game of the final set, but Ferrer held and broke in the next game and again at 3-1 to improve to 9-0 against his fellow Spaniard.

The 11th-ranked Almagro was trying to win his 12th ATP title, and second in consecutive weeks after defending his title at the Brazil Open last weekend.

Ferrer beat home-crowd favorite David Nalbandian of Argentina to reach the final at the clay-court tournament, while Almagro defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Updated February 26, 2012